Ajman, UAE : More than 400 students of Gulf Medical University, the prominent private medical university of the Gulf region, completed their white coats – the mantle of the health profession, and took their Medical Students’ Oath as they were formally inducted into their respective medical courses at the White Coat Ceremony held at the University campus on 5th September 2018.

The ceremony was held for the new students of Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, and Associate Degree in Pre-Clinical Sciences, Physiotherapy, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Imaging Sciences, and Anesthesia Technology.

Addressing the gathering, Prof. Hossam Hamdy, Chancellor of GMU, said “Professionalism, Care & Empathy and Trustworthiness are the three core principles of the medical career. How to communicate, connect, interact and feel will play a key role in educating health professionals.”

Dr. Thumbay Moideen, founder, President Board of Trustees, Gulf Medical University was the chief guest of the White Coat Ceremony. Prof. Hossam Hamdy, presided over the function. The ceremony marked the first step in the healthcare careers of the new students who are now part of GMU’s 80+ nationalities-strong student community.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Thumbay Moideen thanked His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuami, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, for his continuous support for Gulf Medical University, which has become an academic beacon and home for pioneering research and innovation, and the place where UAE doctors and medical professionals are qualified to provide the best healthcare.

Prof. Hossam Hamdy formally welcomed the new class of students. Stressing the importance of human communication and interaction in the medical profession, he said, “Medical sciences will always rely on communication between human beings. The patient, the student, the healthcare provider, and the medical educator are all humans. How to communicate, connect and interact and feel will play a key role in educating Health professional.

“We will train you on how to be a better communicator.” He reminded the new students that Professionalism, Care & Empathy and Trustworthiness are the three core principles of their chosen career. He added that Gulf Medical University is internationally leading in education technology development,” he added.

This year, (GMU) launched two new colleges; the Nursing College and College of Healthcare Management and Health Economics, which brings the total number of colleges to six. The University offers 23 accredited courses, with additional courses awaiting accreditation, expected to be added soon. GMU has an active collaboration with a number of prestigious universities around the world as well as world-renowned research institutes.

The Gulf Medical University Academic Health System (GMUAHS), the only private Academic Health System in the region, links the healthcare, medical education, and research functions on its own. Research is an essential strategic direction of GMUAHS. The Thumbay Research Institute for Precision Medicine leads research in the field of cancer biology and immunology, with international collaboration with France, Poland and Korea.

The strategic plans of Gulf Medical University include increasing its global footprint by setting up three new medical university campuses in three different countries and transforming into a research-based university by 2025.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Tel Aviv, Nov 24: Israel said Sunday that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.”

The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel “will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.” There was no immediate comment from the UAE.

Zvi Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a Kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.

The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. But Israel's devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the the UAE.

Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

The Emirati government did not respond to a request for comment.

Early Sunday, the UAE's state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan's disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being “missing and out of contact.”

“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the Interior Ministry said.

Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting later Sunday that he was “deeply shocked” by Kogan's disappearance and death. He said he appreciated the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation and said that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.

Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for "their swift action." He said he trusts they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City. It said he was last seen in Dubai. The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners.

The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai's busy Al Wasl Road, was shut Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and the back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off when an Associated Press journalist stopped by on Sunday.

Kogan's wife, Rivky, is a US citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and is also home to Abu Dhabi. Local Jewish officials in the UAE declined to comment.

While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.

Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.

Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October.